Pedal exercisers

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lorimor80
lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone had any experience with the seat-less pedal exercisers? Are they a comparable substitute for a recumbent bike? I've had my current recumbent bike for about 12 years, and it's no longer comfortable for me to use. I've been thinking about shopping around for a new one, but then I wondered if I might be better off getting just a pedal machine instead of a full bike. It seems more portable and versatile, which are pluses, but my concern is whether or not it gives as full a cardio workout as the full bike would. Some online research seems to suggest that it does not, but I don't really understand why it would be any different. Any thoughts?

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  • pinky_pie
    pinky_pie Posts: 127
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    Most recumbent bikes have that weight limit on them, and are so damned expensive! It's discouraging when you want to buy a piece of exercise equipment, but are too heavy for it. Both my husband and I are facing that right now (both of us being over 300lbs).

    So, I did invest in one of those pedal exercisers...cost me roughly $40. And I love it! I have to be careful about my knees, and my husband has bad knees, so this little thing is perfect. And I have lost weight using it for exercise. I use it for cardio, putting it on a high resistance setting and tracking my expenditure with my heart rate monitor (also another minor investment). Then, I do my strength exercises like crunches (I hate! lol), wall push ups and squats.

    I recently invested in vinyl covered dumbbells to do bicep curls and the like.
  • lorimor80
    lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
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    Thanks for the input! I did a little more research after posting this and decided to just go for it. I ended up getting one that can be used as a pedaler or as an elliptical-style machine if you stand on it. Maybe when I lose more, I'll be able to give the standing version a shot, but so far I have only used it a couple times the seated way. I'm liking it so far. It's definitely different than the bike!

    What kind of heart rate monitor do you use? I bought a watch style thing that I don't really like. It's too complicated with all the different modes and settings. It takes me forever to remember which buttons to push to cycle through to what I want to see. I'm thinking about selling it and finding something more user-friendly.

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